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What makes a healthy relationship?

The relationships that you have as a teenager will be a special part of your life and will teach you important lessons about who you are.

Communication & Sharing
The most important part of any healthy relationship between two people is communication – being able to share things about yourself and your feelings, and paying attention to what the other person shares with you. This can happen by talking, emailing or writing, and even using body language. One way of showing that you care using body language is by looking someone in the eye when they are talking, rather than looking at other stuff going on around you.

Healthy communication allows you and the other person to feel comfortable with one another and figure out what you both like to do. You can also share your feelings with the other person and trust that he or she will be there to listen, support you, and keep personal information that you share private. In healthy relationships, people don’t lie. Communication is based on honesty and trust.

Respect and Trust
Disagreements may still happen in healthy relationships, but you learn to stay calm and talk about how you feel. Talking calmly helps you to understand the real reason for not getting along, and this makes it much easier to figure out how to fix the problem. In healthy relationships, working through disagreements often makes the relationship stronger. People also respect one another and themselves for working through tough times rather than giving up too easily. Feeling good about yourself – having good self-esteem – and knowing that you deserve a healthy relationship is also very important.

Contact Details & Links

Name: Relate
Web: http://www.relate.org.uk
Email:
Tel: 0300 100 1234
Info: Relate offers advice, relationship counselling, sex therapy, workshops, mediation, consultations and support face-to-face, by phone and through this website.

Name: Child Line
Web: http://www.childline.org.uk
Email: Form oOn Website
Tel: 0800 1111
Info: ChildLine is a counselling service for children and young people. The line is run by the charity the NSPCC.

Name: Samaritans
Web: www.samaritans.org.uk
Email:
Tel: 08457 909090
Info: Confidential help for anyone who is experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which may lead to suicide.

Name: Get Connected
Web: http://www.getconnected.org.uk
Email:
Tel: 0808 8084994
Info: Get Connected is the national helpline for young people under-25 and has been providing free, confidential help for over 10 years

Name: SupportLine
Web: http://www.supportline.org.uk/
Email: info@supportline.org.uk
Tel: 01708 765200
Info: SupportLine offer confidential emotional support to children, young adults and adults by telephone, email and post.

Name: ‘Sex – worth talking about it’ website – NHS Choices
Web: http://www.nhs.uk/worthtalkingabout/Pages/sex-worth-talking-about.aspx
Email:
Tel:
Info: Department of Health website with information on sex, sexual health and STIs

Name: Family Planning Association (FPA)
Web: Guide to contracpetion – http://www.fpa.org.uk/helpandadvice/contraception/guidetocontraceptionmethods
Email:
Tel: 029 20 644034
Info: The FPA is a sexual health charity in the UK. Their aim is to help establish a society in which everyone has positive, informed and non-judgemental attitudes to sex and relationships; where everyone can make informed choices about sex, relationships and reproduction so that they can enjoy sexual health free from prejudice or harm.

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